1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to pull-carts, and in particular, to a pull-cart specially adapted for transporting scuba tanks.
2. Description of Related Art
Sports such as scuba diving tend to be equipment intensive, generally requiring a participant to bring a large quantity of equipment with them to the location of the activity. This is especially true in cold water diving conditions. One of the heaviest pieces of equipment is the scuba tank, which will generally weigh from 25-50 lbs.
There are a number of prior art patents for scuba tank holders. For example, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 319,003 illustrates a scuba tank holder which is placed between two scuba tanks. This locates two scuba tanks in a configuration similar to a set of "doubles", or "twin" tanks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,398 describes a scuba tank holder and carrier in which the carrier is attached to the outside of a scuba tank. The carrier is formed of webbing, or other suitable flexible material and has one or more legs attached to the carrier to prevent the scuba tank from rolling.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,670 describes a scuba tank transportation device which employs a pair of wheels and a wire frame configured to accommodate the bottom of a scuba tank. The tank is inserted into the wire frame, and allows the tank to be rolled from one location to another by tilting the tank and wheeling it to a desired location.
Other scuba equipment can be transported to the desired location by carrying it, or by a variety of carts. Shopping carts, mover's dollies, and the like have been used by placing a gear bag, weight belt, or other equipment in the shopping cart or on the moving dolly and rolling them to the desired location. Interestingly, trash cans with wheels have also been employed to store and transport scuba diving equipment.
There are a number of prior art patents for such carts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,808 describes a utility cart having a pair of wheels at one end, and which may be used to transport trash containers or other goods in a predetermined configuration.
A molded utility cart such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,811 provides a four-wheel movable platform with several fixed handles to allow goods to be randomly placed in the cart and moved from location to location.
For larger applications, wheeled carts such as are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,596 may be employed. This type of cart may find a variety of uses, including transporting baggage to an aircraft.
Although the prior art describes a number of useful scuba tank holders and pull-cart devices, none of the devices described above provide all the features and functions necessary for transporting scuba diving equipment. For example, prior art devices do not allow a scuba tank to be readily stored on the outside of an equipment storage bin. In addition, prior art devices do not provide an extendable handle which can be used to assist in transporting the equipment. Further, prior art devices do not include a locking mechanism to prevent undesired access to equipment which may be left on a beach during a dive. Finally, prior art devices cannot be sealed to maintain a desired atmospheric pressure during transportation by airplane or when subjected to a low pressure surrounding environment. Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved scuba tote for transporting scuba tanks.